


the storm rages on

by tinyspoons



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Caught in a Storm, Gen, Hurricanes & Typhoons, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Thunderstorms, Whumptober, bthb: caught in a storm, but no typhoons, dadvid, david is a f a t h e r, if you interpret this as maxvid or david/nikki please go tf away, nikki pov, not just to max but also to nikki & neil, rated T for bad words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-23 02:24:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20884613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyspoons/pseuds/tinyspoons
Summary: The relative silence from her friends provided a moment of clarity for Nikki - what David and Gwen had been talking about earlier, with danger and serious and most importantly,categories: it had been about hurricanes. This was no ordinary storm, this was ahurricane.or, Nikki, Neil, and Max think it's just a regular storm, right up until they get caught in the middle of what is very definitely not just any thunderstorm.





	the storm rages on

**Author's Note:**

> please go away if you're going to interpret this as maxvid or david/nikki. begone.
> 
> all mistakes are mine feel free to beat me up in the comments for each mistake.

Nikki hated storms. She liked being able to go out in the rain, yes - jumping in puddles and letting the rain splatter on her face and feeling raindrops travel down to her chin before dripping off were all things she loved to do (and all things her mother hated when she did) - but with storms, there was always just a little too much rain, it was always a little too dark, and-

_BOOM._

-there was always a bit too much thunder. It took the fun out of the rain, and the fun out of a perfectly good day of camp. Nikki sent one more mournful glance out the window, seeing nothing but the raindrops that were pelting the Mess Hall, where the entirety of the camp had gathered as soon as it had really started to pour, 

They were all still a little damp. Ered was still wringing the water out of her hair, Harrison had stuck his whole arm down his hat trying to “feel for the water” (but hadn’t let Nikki stick _her_ hand into the hat when she had offered to help), and Dolf was bemoaning the state of the painting he had left out in the rain. 

“Vhen vill ze rain stop?” he demanded of Gwen, who had stayed behind to watch them while David went out to grab flashlights, blankets, and sleeping bags just in case the rain didn’t let up.

Gwen was on her phone, either reading pornographic fanfiction that she tried to hide, or reading the weather forecast. It was probably the former, as she started to answer, “Probably not anytime soon, so don’t get-” but promptly turned white halfway through her sentence and murmured an, _”oh god.”_

Dolf ignored the second part - smart, Nikki thought, it was better to pretend that you didn’t know Gwen was reading about werewolf sex - and hooked onto the first part. “But zhat could be forever! I can’t spend all zhat time with _zhem_.” He gestured in the general direction of the rest of the campers, and ouch, Nikki had thought they were friends- “Except Nikki and Nerris, of course.” Thank god. Nikki shared a smile with Nerris and Dolf.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Harrison said, arm finally out of the hat, which he used to wave around in protest. “We’re right here!” 

“Yeah, why not Nikki and Nerris?” Nurf said.

Harrison looked exasperated, and, probably deeming himself safe on the other side of the hall from Nurf, said, “That’s not what I meant!” 

“It’s not like I want to spend any more time with you losers, anyway, either,” Ered huffed, ignoring Nurf and Harrison. 

“That’s not very nice,” Nerris said, lisp more present as she frowned. Nikki agreed - they were _all_ supposed to be friends, weren’t they? Nikki only wanted to go outside so she could relish in the leftover puddles from the storm, not to get away from everyone. Not that she was going to say that to Ered - as much as she admired the older girl, she hated that she was still slightly intimidated.

Dolf’s words, however, had sparked a battle over who wanted out the most, and even the door bursting open to reveal a sopping wet David, hands full of something wrapped in three waterproof parkas, wasn’t enough to draw anyone’s attention from yelling at each other. This was about the time Gwen would have interrupted, to tell them to _shut up I’m reading_, but instead, she just ran towards David, hissing something under her breath at him. Nikki only caught “. . . more serious . . . danger . . .” which, _fun_, but she was interrupted by something that promised to be a lot more fun as Max and Neil, having extracted themselves from the mess of campers arguing in the middle of the Mess Hall (Nurf was already throwing punches), sidled up to her. 

Max pointed towards the door, which had a pebble shoved into it to keep it open. Neil passed her a parka, and another to Max - they must have grabbed them from when David had dropped them on the floor earlier. “We’re going to the bunker,” Max said, just loud enough to be heard over the din but not loud enough that David and Gwen, who were speaking in quiet tones about something in a category, could hear. “Put on the parka and let’s go.”

Nikki did put the parka on - it was getting stifling in here, and she craved being outside, and anyway, she didn’t think she could hear one more word about not being able to stand another camper without screaming - but also said, “Are you sure it’s safe?”

“Yep, Neil confirmed it,” Max said, jutting a thumb towards Neil who nodded self-assuredly.

“Yep, wind speeds aren’t that strong and it isn’t raining too hard. We should be fine, even better once we get to the bunker.” 

Nikki shrugged. “Cool.” 

They crept towards the door, squeezing through, and as they did they traded the screaming of the campers - something that David and Gwen still had yet to tell them off for, odd - for the noise of the storm around them. The thud of the closing of the door was masked nicely with another _BOOM_ from the sky, and even through the parka, Nikki could feel the harsh sting of the water hitting her. The whistling of the wind was even louder out here than it was inside, and it seemed a thousand times scarier now that the chatter of her friends and the warmth and buttery light of the Mess Hall was no longer there. There was something sinister about the scene, something threatening, but Nikki consoled herself with another episode of Black Mirror once they got inside the bunker. 

Max led the way - as always - and they made the slow trek towards the bunker. As they walked, however, the wind, already merciless and harsh, seemed to pick up speed, and the rain seemed to pour more heavily from before. It had barely been two minutes and it was already getting harder to see Max in front of her and hear Neil’s muttered complaints and curses from behind her. 

“Are you _sure_ it’s safe?” Nikki repeated again, because it sure didn’t feel safe, her worries only reinforced as a flash of lightning lit up the sky behind her, She was a fan of danger, but not _life-threatening_ danger. Nikki knew nature, but also knew how easy it was to get lost in the woods in this kind of storm, and it didn’t help that it was definitely getting worse and worse.

“I- I don’t know anymore,” Neil said uncertainly. “I think we should go back, Max.” A clap of thunder punctuated his words.

“What?” Max said, a couple steps ahead. 

“What do you mean, what?” Neil said, voice raising in volume as he got annoyed.

“I can’t hear you, asshole,” Max said, volume also growing.

“I said, _we should go back!_” Neil said, yelling at this point. It didn’t sound like he was getting louder, though, because the noise of the wind got louder with Neil’s voice, the splash of water on the ground getting more chaotic. 

“Fine!” Max said, but the waver in his voice - and the split-second glance she caught of his face as another lightning flash provided light for a quick moment - spoke volumes for how worried he was getting too.

“Okay, I’ll just- I’ll go backwards,” Neil said, getting quieter as he presumably took a few steps back in the direction of the Mess Hall. Nikki was glad for the bright yellow t-shirts, because she was sure that she wouldn’t have been able to see Neil without them, the rain getting heavier and heavier as the seconds went on. 

Nikki followed Neil and turned back every few seconds to make sure Max was behind her. After the first few glimpses, though, Max’s blue hoodie completely blended in with the rain, and Nikki, already squinting against the water, couldn’t see even a tuft of his wild hair. “Max?” she yelled, barely audible to her own ears over the sounds of the storm, but somehow Max heard her, and responded,

“He- _arg!_” With a sudden _whoosh_, Nikki finally caught a glimpse of both his hoodie and his parka as they were torn away by the wind, fluttering away into the sky, leaving Max only in his yellow t-shirt, already a bit darker from being completely soaked through in the few seconds it had been out. “Fuck!”

Nikki was privately glad that at least now she could see Max, but didn’t say it to him, instead reaching out for Max’s hand and grabbing it despite his protests. “We have to still together!” 

The wind was getting louder and her hollering wasn’t enough anymore. They paused to let another clap of thunder sound between their words, before Max yelled back at her, thankfully not ripping his hand away just yet, “What?!” 

Nikki repeated herself, using the full force of her lungs. _”We have to stick together!”_

“Where’s Neil?!” Max said in lieu of responding, which she took as a yes. 

“I- I don’t know,” Nikki said, whipping around to find a blank space in front of her where the yellow of Neil’s sweater should have been. “Neil!”

“Ne-il!” 

_”Neil?!”_

“Neil, where the _fuck_ are you?!” 

“Guys, I’m right here!” finally came Neil’s voice, after a good two minutes of calling his name. Nikki and Max both whipped around, and Nikki lept forward to give him a quick squeeze - she had been genuinely scared they had lost Neil for a moment, and in this storm, that could be dangerous. Max didn’t do anything, and she couldn’t see his face clearly enough to check, but she knew Max well enough that she was pretty sure there was a somehow relieved scowl on his face.

“Why were you _behind_ us?” Max said as Nikki let go. 

“Yeah, and . . . which way is back to the Mess Hall?” Nikki said, because if Neil was behind them that meant they had circled back around and that meant they didn’t know where they were going which meant they didn’t know where they came from which meant they had no idea where they should go and- the noise outside was making it harder and harder for her to understand her own thoughts, but she did know for certain that they were-

_BOOM._

“-we’re lost?!”

“Now what do we do?” Nikki said to her friends as Max looked around after his yell, as if hoping to find a pathway back.

“I don-” Neil started, only for all three of them to scream as a lightning bolt struck a tree right above them. Everything seemed to pause for a moment - even the storm faded into the background - as the tree let out a dangerous _crack_ and teetered side to side, before falling down, opposite where they were, with a noise loud enough to overpower the simultaneous _BOOM_ of thunder.

Nikki suddenly found herself shaking, although if that was from the cold of the wind and water on her skin, or from fear that they could get really hurt out here was anyone’s guess. She couldn’t tell if she was successfully holding back her tears or if they were just blending in with the rain on her cheeks. 

“We need to get back, _right fucking now!_” Neil said, fear making his voice even high pitched than normal. 

“Thanks for that, Captain Obvious!” Max snapped at him. “But we don’t know _where_ to go!” 

A flash of lighting and a clap of thunder cut over whatever Neil said next, but the relative silence from her friends provided a moment of clarity for Nikki - what David and Gwen had been talking about earlier, with danger and serious and most importantly, _categories_: it had been about hurricanes. This was no ordinary storm, this was a _hurricane_. 

“Guys, this isn’t- this isn’t just any storm!” Nikki said fearfully. “I heard David and Gwen talking about this earlier but I didn’t think it was important!”

“Just spit it out!” 

“It’s a hurricane!” 

There was a moment of silence from the three, helpfully filled with thunder and a flash of lightning that illuminated their faces enough for Nikki to see the wide-eyes realization and striking fear on Neil and Max’s faces, something she was sure that was reflected on her’s as well. 

Neil and Max snapped out of it at the same time and spoke in sync:

_”FUCK!”_

“Did you hear what category hurricane it was?”

Nikk imagined that Neil was looking at her with the same intensity he looked at his science projects. “I don’t know, I didn’t hear!” 

“Oh god, oh god, what-” _BOOM._

It was too much. Nikki sat down heavily on the ground and curled up. They were stuck in a hurricane, they had no idea how to get back, there was always the risk that they could get blown away or freeze to death or get struck by lighting or get hit by something _else_ that had gotten strunk by lightning and this was such a bad idea-

“Nikki, are you okay?” Neil said, worry in his voice offset by the yelling.

“I’m-” It wasn’t a clap of thunder that interrupted her, but instead a familiar crack of wood snapping in half and a whoosh of something falling- but where was it?

Nikki felt herself being violently yanked to the side and not even a full second later the tree fell violently down where she had been sitting a moment ago. 

“Holy _shit_, Nikki-” Max blabbled, letting go of her arm from where he’d grabbed it, while Nikki tuned him out from there, staring at the space where she had been, the space she would have been crushed at Max not noticed the tree falling behind her. She had no doubt that half of the liquid running down her face were salty tears as she tried wishing herself back into the Mess Hall, back to Gwen and David and her friends that she would do anything to hear squabbling right now, do anything to hear David yelling their names as they caused some sort of mischief-

“Max?! Max, Nikki, Neil, can you hear me?!” She had wished hard enough, she could actually hear David’s voice calling their names, and she let out a watery laugh because they were still out there, and David wasn’t out there with them-

“David?!” two voices cried out from behind her, and suddenly it hit her- they could hear her- it wasn’t in her head- _David-_

“Oh my god, you guys are okay,” David’s voice said, and his yellow bandana and bright red hair came into view, the only thing that she could see clearly, as he dropped to his knees beside them. 

Nikki didn’t waste any time before throwing herself into his arms, letting out a low sob as she clung to him. She felt the warmth of who she assumed was Neil next to her, but when she cracked open her eyes, it was to Max’s curls as he buried his head into David’s shoulder. Neil joined them soon after, though, and he was the final solid warmth at her back as she was surrounded by _safety_, finally.

_BOOM._

The hurricane instantly denied her conclusion: there was no safe, they were still in the storm, still in immediate danger, but _David_ was there, David would know what to do.

“What are we going to do?” Neil said, but he wasn’t yelling anymore. It had grown eerily silent all around them, and Nikki picked her head up long enough to glance around to see that the rain had stopped, and the wind had slowed considerably as well.

“Is it over?” Nikki asked, voice hoarse from all the yelling.

“Not yet,” David said, face grim. Max, as soon as he figured out it was silent and that now everyone could see each other, immediately detached himself from David, forcing Neil back, and Nikki slowly joined them. David didn’t stand up, however, instead raking his gaze over the three of them. “Are you okay? Is anyone hurt?” 

“No,” Max said, at the same time Nikki said, “But everything’s stopped.” 

“It’s the eye of the hurricane. It’ll be calm for a little bit and then it’ll start back up again. We’re only halfway through,” Neil said, swiping a quick hand over his eyes.

Only halfway? “Can we go back inside now?” Nikki asked. She was ready for this nightmare to be over. 

“We might not make it,” David said, finally standing up. “We’re going to go to the bunker instead, the one you were all so eager to slip off to.” Even Max had the decency to look sheepish at that one, but David didn’t wait to see whether he was or not, instead extending both hands. “We have to stick together.”

Nikki got it immediately, and grabbed one of David’s hand, and expected Neil to get the other, but to her surprised, Max lunged for it before Neil could even think of moving. David seemed just as surprised, but shot Max a tender smile. There was a definite moment passing between the two, so Nikki looked away and instead extended her other hand for Neil to take.

They walked in a line down to the bunker, and by then the wind was slowly getting quicker, and Nikki didn’t need to be as much of a nerd as Neil was to know that they needed to be fast before the hurricane could get in. David quickened his movements as well, letting go of their hands to open the bunker. Neil jumped in first, then Nikki, then Max, and David came last, sealing the door behind them just as the first few moments of rain began. 

All four of them were still dripping onto the floor. Nikki and Neil immediately collapsed, and Nikki stared at the ceiling as the sounds of the storm above became more and more profound. She hated the rain. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw David collapse against the wall, leaning against it, and closing his eyes, only for them to fly open as a mess of curls - Max - rested his head on David’s leg, keeping his own eyes open long enough to glare at everyone in the room. “He’s a good pillow. Shut up.”

Nikki couldn’t say anything, mostly because she couldn’t believe her eyes, and judging by the way Neil’s eyes bulged, he didn’t either, but David just smiled down at him fondly and said quietly, “Okay, Max.” 

Only a few moments later was Nikki suddenly aware that she was _cold_. She hadn’t noticed it before, with the storm and the running to get to safety, but now that she finally had a moment of reprieve, she was beginning to shiver. And so she did the most logical thing - she stood up to curl up next to David as well, tucking herself under his arm as she had always wished she could do with her mom or her dad, rested her head on his stomach, and closed her eyes. David didn’t say anything, only adjusted his arm to lay more comfortably over her and stroked her hair the way she remembered her father doing when she was younger, when her father still stuck around. It was oddly comforting. “It’s alright now, Nikki. It’s alright.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying to add variety into my bthb and whumptober but so far all I see is camp camp. hmu if you have any prompts. thanks for reading my dudes :)
> 
> 7/14/20: hello everyone :D i'm transferring some of these works from one account to another, so tinyspoons and caffeine101 are both me, to clear up any confusion as to who is answering comments as the author lmao. also unrelated but you can definitely see how badly whumptober went for me :pensive:


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